Final Fantasy: The Relapse
by Eridel
Summary: After their village is attacked by a tribe thought to be their allies, three people leave to discover the reason behind the slaughter. (I apologize, I'm really no good at making summaries...)


Look at this, starting yet another story with a long one still in the works. I'm overworked. Actually, this is a combined effort piece; it's put together with the help of the X-Men fan Strawberry10 and Matt. It's under the Final Fantasy category only because it uses some rather obvious FF aspects. Other than that, though, it isn't set in any of the games, and the characters are all our own. We don't own Final Fantasy, and are making no money off this, so please don't sue. It'll only tie up the judicial system for years and years on end and we have nothing to give up so you'll have wasted all that money on a lawyer for nothing...so on to the story!  
  
...:: Forward ::...  
  
A storm was on its way.  
  
She could feel it, how the very air around her was tense with the energy of thunder and rain. When the first drops begin to fall, they would all rush frantically to get the equipment covered up before scrambling for their tents. Then they would lie back and wait impatiently for the storm to let up so they could get back to work. It was only a matter of time before the enemy found where they where camped and attacked in force, not just the few sorties that had stumbled upon them more by accident than any true notion of where they going. When that happened...  
  
A smile. But it wasn't raining yet! The woman pulled her gloves tighter on her hands and brushed back an errant strand of pale hair as she crawled out from under the large console she had been working on and sat up. She was surrounded by metal. Literally. She was working in the center of the newest device acquired by reconnaissance, left behind by the enemy after a skirmish, and it was her job to figure out how it worked and what, if anything, could be used to counter it. 'It,' was obviously a weapon. She had seen it used first hand, had watched it decimate troops in its path with complete ease. Where she sat were the controls, set in a small circular compartment with no top, and branching off in eight different directions, were the arms. And it was over one of the arms that she leaned, looking down to see a face so similar to her own staring back up at her. She pointed over to the younger woman's side a little at a thin metal device. "Pairo'h, would you hand me that, please?"  
  
Pairo'h.  
  
Her daughter.  
  
"Sure," Pairo'h answered, handing the tool to her mother. "How is it looking?" Today, she apprenticed with her mother, the technician of their unit. Other days she worked with her father and younger brother on plans and strategies. But mechanics was, though she never would admit it to her father, much more interesting.  
  
"Like a serious threat," her mother answered, and Pairo'h grimaced. She had been near the back when they last fought an enemy division, and so had been spared the sight of the destruction these things had left, but stories had been told. People crushed or cut to pieces where they stood. It wasn't promising, no matter how optimistic one was. "But I may be able to find a way to disconnect the control of the arms from the center consoles," she continued. "The only problem is getting someone in close enough to do the job." A brisk wind had begun to blow across the clearing, catching the dust into miniature whirlwinds and tugging at the older woman's hair. "The storm's coming in," she said softly. Then, "Pairo'h, could you grab your father's coat over there and bring it to him? It's getting chilly." She gestured towards one of the tents where their family slept.  
  
A nod. "Of course. I'll be right back." And Pairo'h turned away, jogging off towards the tents.  
  
Crouching down again, the woman turned her attention back to the metal and wires around her. Using the instrument her daughter had just handed her, she peeled back another section of the console, and peered into the tangled nest of cables it revealed. Drawing in a deep breath, she set about sifting through the mess, carefully tugging on single strings once in a while, trying to see where things were connected. Almost immediately, a satisfied grin pulled up the corners of her mouth as she found what she had been looking for. "So this connects the arms to the controls..." she whispered to herself, and marked the special wire with a white piece of thread. Sitting back on her heels, she wiped the back of her hand across her forehead and sighed. It was as good a place as any to close down and wait until the storm blew over.  
  
Meanwhile, Pairo'h had reached her family's tent and found the coat. Slinging it over her shoulders, she ducked back out through the flap that was both door and ventilation, and began to run towards her father where he sat with the other heads of the unit. Her little brother would be there too. Unlike herself, who still hadn't quite decided on which field she wanted to focus on, Sean had already made up his mind to follow their father in strategizing. Pairo'h shrugged as she ran. He would probably do well.  
  
Suddenly, a low rumble of thunder rolled across the field.  
  
That in itself wasn't strange.  
  
But the ground began to shudder as well.  
  
That was strange.  
  
The older woman's head snapped up, eyes swiveling from side to side in shock as she realized what it was that approached. But how had they been found so quickly? It didn't matter now, though; the enemy was upon them, and they could either fight or die. Flight, at this point, was not even a possibility. Standing a little too quickly, she swayed and reached out for the console to catch her balance. Her hands slid along the slick metal...  
  
...onto a short dark button...  
  
Her eyes widened more, horror clutching at her with its icy claws. "Ah..."  
  
Pairo'h had come to an abrupt stop as she felt the ground quiver beneath her feet, and she drew in a sharp breath. "They're here already...?"  
  
Then a loud cry, "Get away! Get down!"  
  
The weapon had begun to move. The arms stretched outwards, extending almost twice as long as they had been, and thin metal coverings lifted away from the ends, exposing a large tunnel through each of the extensions. Well, all but the two that had been damaged in the battle earlier. What was left of them twitched slightly, but ultimately did nothing. Then the center of the device started to move as well, shooting straight up on a mechanical stalk for a meter or so. Unfortunately, because of the harm done to the weapon before it came into their hands, as the it grew taller, it could no longer keep its balance, and tipped over to one side; further and further it leaned, until it simply fell onto the ground.  
  
For a long, horrible moment, near silence blanketed the clearing, except for the steady rumble of hundreds of armored feet moving towards them. Pairo'h stepped closer to the mass of twisted metal and saw her mother still in the center of it, motionless. She took another step forward.  
  
Then, as the saying goes, all hell seemed to break loose.  
  
Chains shot out of the opened ends of the arms, catapulting themselves out in whichever direction they happened to have been aimed in. Some were capped with large spheres, others with sickles and blades. All moved out until either gravity brought them down again, or they came in contact with something else. 'Something else', in such a small place, meant a person. Or groups of them. The orders of 'get away' and 'get down' would have worked in an ideal situation...but everything was far from ideal. And the top had started to spin, each arm digging into the ground and pushing it along like a horribly misshapen disc. Chains flung themselves around wildly, and Pairo'h finally found herself able to move. There was nothing to do but run. Besides panic, or course. But she was a soldier, just like everyone else. So she ran. Clutching her father's coat closer around her, she flicked a glance around the clearing, and seeing no place where the others were gathering, she turned and ran, ducking her head slightly.  
  
So she didn't notice the blade that was swinging towards her.  
  
Even after it struck her, she didn't see it. There was only a strange sensation, as if someone had drug a burning coal across her back; and then she was tumbling forward, her palms and knees scraping against the stones on the ground as she tried unsuccessfully to keep from falling on her face. Consciousness writhed away from her like a twist of light, and she was gone, oblivious to the light pattering of rain that had begun to trickle down from the sky.  
  
When Pairo'h's eyes finally flickered open, the first thing she noticed was the sting of the wound on her back. Her clothes were damp as well; from blood or rain she wasn't completely sure. She hoped it was the rain. Moving carefully, she was able to push herself onto her side, and looked around. Perhaps others had survived and could help her. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she felt the possibility slipping away. Bodies lay everywhere; broken and torn they were, looking strangely like the dolls of a child who had thrown a tantrum. But that wasn't all. The tents were gone, and the pots and tins that had been set around the remains of the campfire near her were missing as well. Even in her still-foggy mind, what had happened was obvious. The enemy had come upon their camp and killed or taken with them the other survivors, along with any supplies.  
  
Which left Pairo'h in a very difficult spot.  
  
Exhaustion pulled at her until she simply rolled over onto her back, ignoring as well as she could the rough ground that pushed against her wound, and she stared emptily at the now-clear sky above her. The sun was shining brightly, almost cheerfully down on her, as if her unit, her family, wasn't just destroyed. If Pairo'h had been able to summon up the energy, she would have shouted furiously at the sun; nothing should be so blissful in these circumstances. As if was, she could barely keep her eyes open, and she let sleep pull her under.  
  
...::End Forward::... 


End file.
